Pampa river sand removal nearing end

The sand removal from the river course of Pthe ampa that began a month ago is nearing completion.

The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) chaired by District Collector P.B. Noohu started clearing the sand deposit left by the 2018 deluge at Pampa on June 4. The DDMA initiated the work to check any future flood fury at Pampa, invoking Section 34(d) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The DDMA also decided to utilise the State Disaster Response Fund for the sand removal project.

According to the Collector, the proposal was to remove 1,28,000 cubic metres of sand and waste from the Pampa. However, the DDMA came to the conclusion later that only 75,000 sq metres of sand need to be removed and hence the scooping of sand from the river course would come to a close after removing another 2,000 cubic metres of sand. Mr. Noohu, accompanied by Vinay Goyal, Thiruvalla Subcollector, and John Thomas, Ranni tahsildar, inspected Pampa to take stock of the situation.

Mr. Goyal said sand and waste accumulated along a 2.2-km stretch of the Valiyanavattom and Pampa-Triveni stretch of the river had been completed. He said sand removed from the river course had been dumped in the forestland near the KSRTC depot at Pampa.

The DDMA decision came against the backdrop of the heavy monsoon forecast made by the Meteorology Department of India, the Collector said.